Deterring Illegal Entry: Migrant Sanctions and Recidivism in Border Apprehensions

Samuel Bazzi, Gordon Hanson, Sarah John, Bryan Roberts and John Whitley

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2021, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-27

Abstract: During the 2008 to 2012 period, the US Border Patrol enacted new sanctions on migrants apprehended while attempting to enter the United States illegally. Using administrative records on apprehensions of Mexican nationals that include fingerprint-based IDs and other details, we detect if an apprehended migrant is subject to penalties and if he is later reapprehended. Exploiting plausibly random variation in the rollout of sanctions, we estimate econometrically that exposure to penalties reduced the 18-month reapprehension rate for males by 4.6 to 6.1 percentage points off of a baseline rate of 24.2 percent. These magnitudes imply that sanctions can account for 28 to 44 percent of the observed decline in recidivism in apprehensions. Further results suggest that the drop in recidivism was associated with a reduction in attempted illegal entry.

JEL-codes: J15 J18 K37 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Deterring Illegal Entry: Migrant Sanctions and Recidivism in Border Apprehensions (2019)
Working Paper: Deterring Illegal Entry: Migrant Sanctions and Recidivism in Border Apprehensions (2018)
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DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190291

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